Ostreopsys dinos!!

[KeMiKiLL]

I think this is what I have... long, stringy brown algae growths that seem to be growing at an insane rate.

I have a blue legged hermit, two scarlet hermits and two astrea snails, none of which seem too interested in eating this stuff.

I'm going to black out the tank as this stuff is photosynthetic but is there anything else I can do to beat it down?

I was going to suck out the larger patches of it using a pipette but I'm not sure how effective that would be.

This tank is 3 weeks into it's cycle with dry rock and aragonite so I don't think hitting it with UV would be a good idea.

Is there anything I can add in terms of hardy CUC members that would like to snack on this, or some other product to outcompete these dinos for resources?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jilly92]

I think this is what I have... long, stringy brown algae growths that seem to be growing at an insane rate.

I have a blue legged hermit, two scarlet hermits and two astrea snails, none of which seem too interested in eating this stuff.

I'm going to black out the tank as this stuff is photosynthetic but is there anything else I can do to beat it down?

I was going to suck out the larger patches of it using a pipette but I'm not sure how effective that would be.

This tank is 3 weeks into it's cycle with dry rock and aragonite so I don't think hitting it with UV would be a good idea.

Is there anything I can add in terms of hardy CUC members that would like to snack on this, or some other product to outcompete these dinos for resources?

Thanks in advance.

Don't touch it. I became ill from handling it scraping it off rocks. Blackout worked for me. I lost all my fish but one lawnmower however . Also killed off half sps after the blackout when bf turned the lights up too quickly. Alot of snails,hermits, shrimp,, an urchin died too. It seemed like the dinos let off a toxin as they die and everything was smothering. An airstone helped until I could move stuff into a different tank. Be careful and do your research. There's a dinoflagellates fb group where you can get more info.

 

[KeMiKiLL]

Don't touch it. I became ill from handling it scraping it off rocks. Blackout worked for me. I lost all my fish but one lawnmower however . Also killed off half sps after the blackout when bf turned the lights up too quickly. Alot of snails,hermits, shrimp,, an urchin died too. It seemed like the dinos let off a toxin as they die and everything was smothering. An airstone helped until I could move stuff into a different tank. Be careful and do your research. There's a dinoflagellates fb group where you can get more info.

Yikes! Thanks for the heads up!

I only have the few CUC members in the tank at the moment. Should I move them to the QT during blackout to prevent dieoff toxins from hurting them? Lights out starts tonight.

 

[Jilly92]

Yikes! Thanks for the heads up!

I only have the few CUC members in the tank at the moment. Should I move them to the QT during blackout to prevent dieoff toxins from hurting them? Lights out starts tonight.

I would

 

[JosephM]

I just beat them a little bit ago. Created this small thread if you want to give it a read

How I beat ostresopsis dinos, and how you can too!

I would like to share my experiences with others. This is all my opinion based on experience and reading. I don’t want to gather data but will if you guys would like, I’m just lazy lol. First off I want to start that ostreopsis dinos are over complicated. When I first ID’ed mine I was...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Idoc]

You need to look at these under a microscope. Dinos 3 weeks into a new cycle doesn't make any sense...especially starting with dry rock and not having anything else added to the tank.

 

[KeMiKiLL]

I just beat them a little bit ago. Created this small thread if you want to give it a read

How I beat ostresopsis dinos, and how you can too!

I would like to share my experiences with others. This is all my opinion based on experience and reading. I don’t want to gather data but will if you guys would like, I’m just lazy lol. First off I want to start that ostreopsis dinos are over complicated. When I first ID’ed mine I was...

www.reef2reef.com

Great read! Thank you for that!

With my tank 3 weeks into a cycle is it a good idea to bomb it with UV though?

 

[JosephM]

Great read! Thank you for that!

With my tank 3 weeks into a cycle is it a good idea to bomb it with UV though?

Of course. I personally didn’t want to go with it but it really is what beat them for me. I’m assuming you have a microscope and ID’d them already. UV isnt efficient against all Dinos but is exceptionally well at beating ostreopsis Dinos. Only downside to UV for me was killing phyto and pods but I can always add more phyto and it doesn’t kill all pods so they can reproduce

 

[KeMiKiLL]

Of course. I personally didn’t want to go with it but it really is what beat them for me. I’m assuming you have a microscope and ID’d them already. UV isnt efficient against all Dinos but is exceptionally well at beating ostreopsis Dinos. Only downside to UV for me was killing phyto and pods but I can always add more phyto and it doesn’t kill all pods so they can reproduce

I have a pretty good lab microscope but haven't looked at it under the lense yet. I'll have to do that to be sure.

 

[KeMiKiLL]

You need to look at these under a microscope. Dinos 3 weeks into a new cycle doesn't make any sense...especially starting with dry rock and not having anything else added to the tank.

I did have two snails that died in the tank a week ago and a few days later I started to see these orangish-brown strands...

 

[ScottR]

I think this is what I have... long, stringy brown algae growths that seem to be growing at an insane rate.

I have a blue legged hermit, two scarlet hermits and two astrea snails, none of which seem too interested in eating this stuff.

I'm going to black out the tank as this stuff is photosynthetic but is there anything else I can do to beat it down?

I was going to suck out the larger patches of it using a pipette but I'm not sure how effective that would be.

This tank is 3 weeks into it's cycle with dry rock and aragonite so I don't think hitting it with UV would be a good idea.

Is there anything I can add in terms of hardy CUC members that would like to snack on this, or some other product to outcompete these dinos for resources?

Thanks in advance.

Have you looked at them under a microscope yet? Hard to ID with just your eyes unless you know exactly what you’re looking for. Usually pictures look different than when you see them in person. Also, do they look like balloons? With a bubble at the end of the string. Or just brown stringy stuff?

 

[lelandmarine]

Heres a link to a website with pics,

https://algaeid.com/identification/

 

[KeMiKiLL]

Have you looked at them under a microscope yet? Hard to ID with just your eyes unless you know exactly what you’re looking for. Usually pictures look different than when you see them in person. Also, do they look like balloons? With a bubble at the end of the string. Or just brown stringy stuff?

My slide preparation sucks as I had no cover slips that I could find, but here are some pics as 10x, 40x, and 100x. There is no movement at any of these zooms and they don't really look like anything on that page (thanks for that link, by the way).

I'm thinking this might be diatom algae based on it's rod-like appearance that matches some microscope pictures of diatoms I found.

 

[Idoc]

My slide preparation sucks as I had no cover slips that I could find, but here are some pics as 10x, 40x, and 100x. There is no movement at any of these zooms and they don't really look like anything on that page (thanks for that link, by the way).

I'm thinking this might be diatom algae based on it's rod-like appearance that matches some microscope pictures of diatoms I found.

I did have two snails that died in the tank a week ago and a few days later I started to see these orangish-brown strands...

Yes, you are having a diatom bloom, not a dino infestation...which makes perfect sense with the age of the tank. Diatoms can also have a stringy and "snotty" appearance to them as well.

Your snails could be dying due to starvation in a new tank...sometimes there isn't enough algae for them to sustain them. Also, snails could be dying due to the cycle...snails don't do well with any ammonia in a system!

 

[ScottR]

Agree with @Idoc A classic diatom bloom in a newer tank. Diatoms can come off as Dino-like. I wouldn’t sweat it. Diatoms use silicates to build their shell. Silicates can come from rocks and sand and will get used up eventually, killing off the diatoms, then the end of the ugly stage. Non RODI water can add silicates into the water that will keep these going. So if you use RODI water, they should be gone in a couple of months or so.

 

[Jilly92]

Buy some copepods, they will help with diatoms

 

[Deep]

there is no need to do anything about diatoms. they will resolve on their own in a few days.

 

[KeMiKiLL]

Buy some copepods, they will help with diatoms

I'm planning on getting a refugium going in this tank and populaating with copepods and phytoplankton but I'm just not sure of the timing of when to start that.

 

[KeMiKiLL]

Thank you all for your help. I'm so relieved this isn't a dino infestation!

 

[Jilly92]

I'm planning on getting a refugium going in this tank and populaating with copepods and phytoplankton but I'm just not sure of the timing of when to start that.

Asap. I've heard copepods are more successful if you acclimate them. I had a little 4 gallon cube that had some sand and liverock and I poured a bottle in there and let their population get up and then put them in tank